Psych LiveWire
Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI)
John Briere, PhD
PAR
Purpose: To evaluate acute and chronic posttraumatic symptomatology
Candidates: 18+ years of age
Administration: 20 minutes - Individual and group
The TSI is a 100-item inventory designed to evaluate posttraumatic stress and other psychological sequelae of traumatic events (eg rape, spouse abuse, physical assault, combat, major accidents, natural disasters, or childhood abuse).
The TSI includes 10 clinical scales that measure the extent to which the respondent endorses trauma-related symptoms.These scales can be subsumed under three broad categories of distress (trauma, self, and dysphoria) and include:
- Anxious Arousal
- Dysfunctional Sexual Behavior
- Dissociation Behavior
- Intrusive Experiences
- Depression
- Impaired Self-Reference
- Sexual Concerns
- Defensive Avoidance
- Anger/Irritability
- Tension Reduction
The TSI contains three validity scales (Response Level, Atypical Response, and Inconsistent Response), which assess the respondent's tendency to deny symptoms that others commonly endorse, to overendorse unusual or bizarre symptoms, and to respond to items in an inconsistent or random manner.
The 12 critical items also help to identify potential problems, such as suicidal ideation or behavior, substance abuse, psychosis, and selfmutilatory behaviour, that may require immediate follow-up.
An alternate 86-item version (TSI-A) is also available, which is identical to the TSI except it makes no references to sexual issues.
To order the TSI, visit: TSI
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